A packet data convergence protocol (“PDCP”) discard timer is related to the delay between generation of a packet and actual transmission of the generated packet. That is, it is a time duration for which a PDCP packet's corresponding Radio Link Control (“RLC”) packet segments are stored in a RLC buffer before being assigned uplink resources and transmitted. The discard timer specifies a timeout value (e.g., an upper limit or maximum time/period/duration) for which a packet (or packet segment) may remain in the RLC buffer before the packet is discarded. The timeout value may be configured by an eNodeB of an attached LTE network. For example, the eNodeB may configure the timeout value to be 100 ms. If the packet remains in the RLC buffer longer than the timeout value specified by the protocol (e.g., 100 ms), the packet is discarded.
Once the timeout value is configured, it remains fixed despite changes to channel conditions. Thus, when the timeout value is configured to be, for example, 100 ms, all packets generated for transmission will remain in the RLC buffer for up to 100 ms regardless of varying channel conditions. This may cause an undesired early discard of packets or congestion in the buffer. As such, a dynamic discard timer with the timeout value configured to change in view of channel conditions is desirable.